The Thought Of You (Drives Me Wild)
by kiras-hale
Summary: A non-supernatural university au, where Scott and Stiles are clueless, Lydia drinks too much coffee but somehow stays sane, Malia's just trying to find her place and Kira thinks she just found it. A pure, fluffy Malira one-shot.


"How do you do it?" Kira sighed, head in her hands, mind heavy from the conversation she and Scott had earlier this morning. She felt dead, wearing yesterday's clothes and not having combed her hair properly today.

"Do what?" Lydia asked, her mind elsewhere as well, but Kira never asked where. Lydia was just like that; always thinking of other things, but also thinking of her friends, at the same time.

"You know what I mean. Get A's in everything. Have stable relationships. Stay sane."

"I think you're doing a fine job of that."

Kira stifled a laugh as Scott's words came back to her - "I love you, but it's the distance thing, you know?" No, Kira didn't know. "I'm not getting A's, for one."

Lydia tapped her stir stick on the side of her coffee cup three times, something she always did but never could explain. "They mark on the bell curve," she replied, shrugging. "Honestly, in high school my work might've gotten me C's, but here, they become A's."

Kira looked up once; to witness Lydia put even more sugar in her coffee. "Also, how do you drink it like that and not bounce off the walls?"

"If I didn't drink it like this, I'd be sleeping all day."

"I should try that. Sleep all day. It'd be a nice change."

Finally, Lydia finished her bizarre coffee ritual and looked over at Kira, who was trying to sleep now. "You sure you don't want anything?" Lydia asked. "I can get you a coffee. This place makes the best ones."

"I'm fine," Kira sighed, slowly lifting her head and sitting up straight to look vaguely respectable. "You don't even know what they taste like, you put so much sugar in it."

"So," Lydia said after a short period of silence, "Tell me what's going on."

For a moment, Kira didn't want to tell her. This might not be final. What if she just misunderstood? What if their bond is still as strong as ever? She wished that those thoughts were true, but she knew they could never be. "It's Scott," she said slowly, trying not to cry. They were in Lydia's favourite diner and if Kira caused a scene Lydia couldn't come back, and then…then she'd have wrecked something else.

"If he did something, I will kick his ass into the next year," Lydia said immediately. It was a moment like this Kira was glad that Lydia was her friend, and not her enemy.

"We were on Skype earlier, and everything was fine…but then…he just suddenly started talking about 'distance' and how he 'couldn't do it' and it 'wasn't fair' and then…I think he broke up with me?"

Lydia's face softened and she took Kira's hand in her own. "I always knew that boy wasn't very smart."

Kira forced out a small laugh. "I just thought that it would be a forever kind of thing. After all the promises we made…"

"I think you need to go to a party tonight."

Kira raised one eyebrow. "I don't party."

"I know," Lydia said. "But tonight, you need to let loose a little bit. You know this diner is a bar at night; come here, drink, dance until you can't anymore. It'll help."

"Is that how you got over Jackson?"

Lydia returned to stirring her coffee, but she nodded. So apparently Jackson was still a sore spot. That didn't inspire Kira's confidence that she'd feel better. But she also knew that Lydia was not going to let her stay in their dorm tonight, so she just sighed and gave in. Lydia had a way of persuading people.

The door was right there - literally right there. Kira could've reached out and touched it, but instead, she just stood there, wondering if Lydia actually had a point or if she was truly insane and hyped up on too much coffee.

There was definitely dancing going on inside the diner - which was now a bar - and there was definitely drinking, and in some cases, both. But Kira was not the kind of person to spend her Friday night dancing and drinking with strangers. She should've made Lydia come with her. Or anyone, really.

Just as she was turning around, her cell phone buzzed against her foot. Yeah, she kept her phone in her boots; it was odd, maybe, but she never lost it that way. And speak of the devil - Lydia's face popped up on the display. "Hi," Kira sighed after forcing herself to answer, because she knew what was coming.

"Let me guess. You're standing outside and you're about to turn around."

"You know, sometimes I wish you didn't know me so well."

"That's what I'm here for, hon. Go inside. Live for tonight, cry for tomorrow, and then meet someone cute after that!" The television noise in the background of Lydia's call suggested that she hadn't met someone cute even though she'd followed steps one and two after Jackson, but hey, maybe they'd work for Kira?

"Fine," Kira sighed. "I'll go in. But I'm doing this for you."

"That's what you think. Have a nice night!"

"Don't drink too much coffee!" Lydia had already hung up, probably because she knew Kira was going to say that. Oh well. Sighing, she slipped her phone back into her boot and walked inside, putting all doubt behind her.

The bar was loud - it was more like a club, really. All of the booths were gone, pushed away somewhere, giving room for a massive dance floor. Almost nobody was at the bar itself - everyone was just here to dance and listen to obnoxiously loud music that would haunt their hangovers the next day. Kira waited approximately one second before she just walked in and joined them.

She didn't know anybody there, but it didn't seem to matter - everyone was dancing on their own, but dancing together as well. It felt suffocating, if she honest. It was fine for a minute, but then the music hurt her ears and the whole place smelled bad. This was not her idea of a 'good time.'

Giving up on that, she moved over to the bar, hoping to just sit for long enough to convince Lydia she tried. There were only a few seats at the bar, and the one that was open and non-threatening was next to another girl, about her age. Sighing again, Kira slid into the seat, hoping the girl wouldn't mind.

She didn't seem to - the girl glanced over and instead of giving Kira the side-eye or something, she actually smiled. "You don't look happy," she commented.

Kira couldn't help but scoff. "Neither do you," she said, motioning to the drink the girl had in her hand.

"Yeah, well. I'm hoping to fix that." After taking a sip, she continued, "My name's Malia. You go to the university, right?"

"Yeah. Do you?"

"You're in my writing class, I think." There was a moment of silence. "Aren't you going to drink?"

"No," she said immediately. "I just didn't want to be over there."

"Dancing is not for everyone," Malia agreed, taking another sip. "However, drinking is. Live a little."

"That's what everyone keeps saying," Kira grumbled. But honestly, she felt just fine.

"Bartender!" Malia called, snapping her fingers a couple times, attracting the attention of the - buff - bartender. "Get her what I've got."

"What do you have?" Kira asked, apprehensive. She didn't want to drink, but she wasn't going to turn it down in front of a total stranger. First impressions mattered.

"That's for you to find out!" With that, Malia finished her drink and ordered a second. Wherever this was going, Kira knew it couldn't be good - but at least it'd be memorable.

Soon, a drink was placed in front of Kira and she took a small sip, trying not to recoil at the strong taste. "You really don't drink," Malia laughed, finishing her second.

"You really do."

"Nah. Just when I'm trying not to think about love."

That made Kira perk up, because ironically, it made her think about Scott. "Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked quietly, tapping the side of her glass a couple times.

"Not anymore," Malia sighed. "I used to - his name was Stiles. He was cool, and funny, and all that. But he'd been hiding a million secrets from me and I can't be with someone who isn't honest."

For a second, it sounded like any other breakup, but then Kira realized. "Wait - Stiles Stilinski?"

"Yeah. Why, you know him?"

"Yeah! He's my…" Kira trailed off for a second as reality set in, but she managed to finish, "My ex is best friends with him."

"You mean Scott, Scott McCall."

"Yeah," Kira laughed. "Yeah, we broke up yesterday. My friend Lydia said I should come here to 'have fun.'"

Malia let out a good laugh after that. Kira was confused at first, but really, she probably looked like the opposite of 'fun' right now. "Why don't we go dance?" Malia finally said, "I mean, if you're not going to drink."

"Oh," Kira said softly, realizing that Malia was, in fact, sincere. "I - I don't dance."

"You do now!" Malia cried, grabbing Kira's hand and pulling her right to the middle of the busy dance floor. The dance music was still playing, encouraging the crowd, but for some reason, it didn't feel as suffocating now that she wasn't alone.

"Let loose!" Malia yelled. This girl could dance, and it was painfully obvious she wasn't going to stop until Kira danced as well.

"Oh, what the hell," Kira sighed, taking in a breath, and then she moved closer to Malia, and she let loose for the first time in ages.

It felt good. The two were so close, and everyone else felt so far away. It was just them, in their own world. Even the music faded away into the background. Kira wanted to stay like that forever, trapped in the movements with her. She felt exactly how Lydia said she would. Blood pumping, exhilarated, alive.

When people slowly started to leave and the music quieted and the bartender yelled something about "15 minutes," the moment finally stopped, and Kira realized they'd been like that for an hour. "Do you want to get out of here?" Malia said, breathless.

"Yes," Kira replied, just as softly. This time, Kira grabbed Malia's hand, and they ran out of the bar, across the street and towards the university. She didn't stop laughing the whole time - how could she have forgotten how good it felt to just laugh?

"You live here?" Malia asked when they finally reached Kira's dorm.

"Yeah, don't you?" Kira asked, opening the door.

"No, I have an apartment a few blocks down."

"Oh! Do you want me to walk you there?" Everything inside Kira wanted her to say 'yes' and she wasn't sure why.

Malia was silent for a few seconds. They were still so close and Kira never wanted that to change. "No," she finally replied.

Kira's heart sunk. "Oh, okay. Well, I guess I'll see you-"

"No, because I want to leave the night like this." Before Kira could say anything, Malia came even closer. Kira could hear her heart in her ears and she felt buzzed and alive but then, then Malia's lips came crashing on to hers and everything suddenly amplified. She'd never kissed a girl - why on Earth hadn't she? She kissed back, just as strong as Malia. It was the best moment of her life.

"See you tomorrow," Malia whispered, drawing back slightly, her lips curved into a smile. Kira could feel her breath brushing her nose.

"Yeah. Definitely." That was all Kira could manage, but it was enough, she hoped. With another glance - and a wink - Malia turned around and was gone.

For ten seconds, Kira just stood there, watching her leave with an amazing amount of grace. Then, in one motion, she turned and shut the door, her back against it as she tried to regain some breathing. "Oh my god," she whispered. "Oh my god."

"Oh my god is right!" Kira froze and looked up to see Lydia on the couch, curled up in five blankets watching re-runs of Grey's Anatomy, coffee in hand. "I told you this would be good for you."

"You saw that?" Kira said sheepishly, letting out a long sigh and moving away from the door. "I thought you'd be asleep."

"I wasn't going to sleep until I found out how your party went," Lydia said, like it was obvious. She turned off the TV and finished, "And I guess I know now!"

Kira just smiled, shaking her head. She could still feel Malia's presence and she didn't want that to change. "Her name's Malia. We met at the bar. We danced. And then she kissed me."

"And you kissed back! It was beautiful."

"Yeah," Kira said. "It really was."

The next day, writing class was the best and the worst experience of Kira's life - and she'd had a lot of bad ones. The entire time, Malia kept looking at her and Kira kept looking back, and even though Malia was confident and always smiled at her, Kira just felt awkward and didn't know what to do with herself.

After the class was over, someone grabbed Kira's arm as she was leaving the class and pulled her aside. She knew who it was as soon as she saw their hand. "Hi," she said breathlessly.

"Hi," Malia replied. "Last night was amazing."

"Last night was incredible," Kira agreed instantly.

"But I - I have to ask you," Malia continued. If there was ever a phrase to cause Kira anxiety, it was that. "Are you and Scott, like, officially done?"

Kira had only thought about Scott once today, but for some reason, it didn't seem to matter. He wasn't Malia. "Yes. Are you and Stiles?"

"Yes," Malia said immediately.

"Good," Kira replied. "So, um. Does that mean…?"

Malia laughed, and Kira was sure that there was never a better sound. "Please, just kiss me," she whispered, and who was Kira to deny her?

For the first time in a long time, Kira felt alive, and she wasn't about to change that.


End file.
